Will Ichiro reach 3,000 hits with Mariners?

This is one of those questions that only time will answer, but I can’t help wondering — after seeing Ichiro Suzuki reach the 2,000-hit plateau over the weekend — how long the guy will keep cranking out hits.

Ichiro became the 259th big-league player to achieve the 2,000-hit mark and only one (Al Simmons) did it in fewer games.

Will Ichiro Suzuki still have the speed to keep cranking out hits for another five or more seasons to reach the 3,000-hit plateau in the Major Leagues? (Getty Images/Ezra Shaw)

But while it’s a great milestone, the prestigious mark in baseball is 3,000 hits, an accomplishment met by just 27 players.

With 1,278 hits in Japan, Ichiro’s career total now sits at 3,278. So if he does have enough tread left on the tires to reach 3,000 hits in the Major Leagues, it’ll make for a very interesting argument over whether he’s the leading hitter in baseball history.

The Major League record for hits is 4,256 by Pete Rose. Should Ichiro knock out another 1,000 hits to reach 3,000 in the big leagues, he’d then have 4,278 hits between the U.S. and Japan, or 22 more than Rose’s total.

With Ichiro, it’s not hard to do the math. He’s 35 years old (and will turn 36 next month), but still cranking out 200-hit seasons. At that pace, he’d need to play another five years to tally up another 1,000.

But is it possible for him to keep that pace?

At what point does he lose a step or two and begin seeing the infield singles dwindle?

When will the inevitable age factor begin affecting his health?

He’s missed 16 games this season, which equals the number of games he sat out over his first eight years in Seattle combined. But still he’s on pace to blow by 200 hits for the season, his .362 batting average is the second highest of his Major League career and his .468 slugging percentage is his best since arriving in Seattle in 2000.

Clearly the man is a remarkable physical specimen and his stretching routines are legendary. And, no, baseball players don’t have to disappear at age 36. Rose, for one, kept playing until he was 45. And it’s worth noting that 1,601 of Rose’s hits came after the age of 35.

Whether Ichiro is motivated to keep going in the United States until he’s 40 or older remains to be seen, but clearly he is driven by the desire to accumulate hits. So as long as he’s interested, it seems quite possible we could see history in Seattle.

Yet that also raises the inevitable question of whether he would help or hurt the team if allowed to continue playing at an advanced age. So what do you think?

Do you see any reason Ichiro can’t keep going another five years or more? And if so, do you want him to stay with the Mariners even after his skills begin declining in order to break the 3,000 milestone and challenge Rose’s all-time hit total in a Seattle uniform?